Forest and Frost

My most memorable hikes can be classified as 'Shortcuts that Backfired'.

~ Edward Abbey

Early in January, my friend, Susan suggested a hike through the trails of Northumberland County Forest - about forty-five minutes from home. Below are my photos from that day, along with a few frosty window images as they appeared over the course of that week.


The day started off sunny and very cold. The frost on my window seemed eager to greet the morning sun.






As we headed south, we wondered if we were in for some interesting weather. A huge wall of clouds appeared like a small mountain range, silently punching its way into the sky. It was a pretty cold day (-14C/7F) with an even colder windchill. You can see how icy the fields were.






We weren't sure exactly where we were going to end up and once we arrived, we had difficulty finding the hiking trails anywhere near a logical place to park. So we kind of broke the rules and walked along the cross-country paths instead. The snow was very hard - icy, even and so we we knew we weren't going to be ruining any smooth skiing trails for anyone who came behind us.






The sun was strong but lacked the power to coax the frost from my windows at home. A January deep freeze is undaunted by the vague, warming rays of a faraway spring.






Susan led the way and when faced with a fork in the road, wisely avoided the path less taken. And yet - that didn't stop us from getting a little lost.






Trails were not as clearly or logically marked as we thought and so we found ourselves zigging instead of zagging a time or two. One of those zig brought us up a steady incline overlooking much of the forest. You can see what we assumed was Lake Ontario in the distance.






The sun shone brightly from behind the hardy leaves of a beech tree.






Meanwhile, back at home, fairies celebrated their alone time by dancing and flying across my window panes.







A little pine cone branch set in the snow suggested that someone else might have thought it wise to mark their path.






After a couple of head-scratching decisions, we finally felt certain we were on our last stretch of the hike and headed back to the parking spot. One day, I'll have to tell you how my friend Carol Anne and I managed to get lost in a paddleboat...






Heading back home, Susan was driving so I took the opportunity to snap a few "drive-by shootings." There's something about an old barn that tends to catch my eye.






While we motored along and explored the Ontario countryside, icy feathers teetered and swayed while exploring the terrain of a frosted window.






A brief sighting of an old tree and aging structure will live on in a digital capture as we zoomed by.






There's a lot going on in this image despite my having noticed very little of it when I clicked the shutter. The body of water is Rice Lake. I'm thinking that this place had a dock or two to dismantle and pile up for the winter, and probably a few boats to move to storage. Aside from some trailers, I see a barbecue, several propane tanks, a wheelbarrow, a bench looking out over the water, a bird feeder hanging near the bench, a weather vane on the small shed and a faux owl just to the right of the permanent section of the dock. The sign tells me that this place is part of the cottage and boat rental spot called Adventure Bay in Gore's Landing.





Nightfall also offers a moody view through my third floor window, though this one was taken back in December as you can tell by the Christmas tree lights.

I will be back before too long with more snowy pics, as our winter persists.

The Time for Comfort

Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire:
it is the time for home. ~ Edith Sitwell

Winter's icy fingers have gripped southern Ontario by the snowballs rather suddenly and aggressively the past couple of days. Up until this week, the weather hasn't strayed too far below the freezing mark for very long, and many daytime highs have climbed well above seasonal norms. That came to an abrupt end on Friday when temperatures dropped from a near-balmy -5C (23F) to a painfully cold windchill factor of -40C (which is also -40F) expected for tonight.

Hopefully, this blog post finds you toasty warm and in the mood for a few winter photos.

The wagon rests in winter, the sleigh in summer, the horse never. ~ Yiddish Proverb

There are no shortages of barns, once you get north of Peterborough. This one was snapped from the car last year when my son and I were headed south to our old haunts. We've had much less snow than that. this year.

All that is gold does not glitter,

Not all those who wander are lost;

The old that is strong does not wither,

Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

~ J.R.R. Tolkien

Frost on my window catches the morning sun, rising to greet the town.

I read about a guy in Michigan this winter who was cruising along on his snow mobile. "Whoo hoo!" Didn't see a barbed wire fence. FOOM - cut his head right off. And I'll be honest with you, my first thought was... That's how I want to go. Having the time of your life, "Whoo hoo!" FOOM. I want the last thought in my head to be, "Hey, check out that headless snow mobile driver. He's got a jacket just like mine. ~ David Crowe

Another one from last year. As soon as the lake was frozen, snowmobiles zipped by semi-regularly.

Frost grows on the window glass, forming whorl patterns of lovely translucent geometry. Breathe on the glass, and you give frost more ammunition. Now it can build castles and cities and whole ice continents with your breath's vapor. In a few blinks you can almost see the winter fairies moving in ... but first, you hear the crackle of their wings. ~ Vera Nazarian

A recent frosty window. I played with the exposure settings a bit for this one.

See how that one little cloud floats like a pink feather from some gigantic flamingo. … How small we feel with our petty ambitions and strivings in the presence of the great elemental forces of Nature!

~ Arthur Conan Doyle

This was captured back in April of last year. The lake outside my door was still frozen but that didn't deter the dusk from accessorizing the sky with a cheerful, springlike pink feather.

One winter morning I awoke to see magnificent lines of frost stretching across my window panes. They seemed to rise with the sunshine and the bitter cold outside. They looked like little miracles that had been formed in the dark of the night. I watched them in sheer amazement and marveled that such beautiful forms could be born during such a winter-cold night. Yet, as I pondered them I thought of how life is so like that. We live our long, worn days in the shadows, in what often feels like barren, cold winter, so unaware of the miracles that are being created in our spirits. It takes the sudden daylight, some unexpected surprise of life, to cause our gaze to look upon a simple, stunning growth that has happened quietly inside us. Like frost designs on a winter window, they bring us beyond life's fragmentation and remind us that we are not nearly as lost as we thought we were, that all the time we thought we were dead inside, beautiful things were being born in us. ~ Joyce Rupp

You had to know that with me, if there's one frosty windowpane image, there's going to be several. This kind of looks like a night sky behind it but it was taken mid-afternoon.

Everyone is kneaded out of the same dough but not baked in the same oven. ~ Yiddish Proverb

During the long, cold months of winter, we often have a tendency to turn toward comfort foods. In December, I had the honour of being included among a wonderful group of women friends for the making of Christmas pierogies. Experienced hands readied the dough on a breadboard which has seen a few generations of food preparation.

She rolled up and down, back and forth.

A sprinkling of flour dusted on a sticking place,

and the dough stretched and gave.

~Julia Meylor Simpson

Each ball of dough yielded quite a bit of rolled out real estate.

Never, never rest contented with any circle of ideas, but always be certain that a wider one is still possible. ~ Pearl Bailey

We used a simple glass to cut the circles from the dough.

Preparing food is one of life's great joys, but a lot of times, parents ask their kids if they want to cook with them and then tell them to go peel a bag of potatoes. That's not cooking - that's working! ~ Guy Fieri

The potato and cheese mixture was ready and waiting for helpers to grab those spoons to start filling these scrumptious treats.

Pierogi

noun, plural pierogi, pierogies. Eastern European Cookery.

1. a small dough envelope filled with mashed potato, meat, cheese, or vegetables, crimped to seal the edge and then boiled or fried, typically served with sour cream or onions.

And fill them, we did – several dozens of them. There were also some previously-made pierogies which we had as part of our lunch. All in all a lovely day with lovely people.

It is the life of the crystal, the architect of the flake, the fire of the frost, the soul of the sunbeam. This crisp winter air is full of it.

~ John Burroughs 

I'll leave you with one final frosty window shot from this very morning (Saturday).

More photos coming up before too long.

Frostography

This winter hasn't been particularly snowy but it's had its deep-freeze periods.

Below are a few photos of some frost patterns on one of the bedroom windows, as well as a few random scenes from around my local park. All quotes are attributed to poet Robert Frost - in honour of my frost-covered window, of course. Please click on each of them to enlarge.

"Some say the world will end in fire, some say ice. From what I've tasted of desire I hold with those who favor fire. But if it had to perish twice, I think I know enough of hate to say that for destruction, ice is also great and would suffice."

"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on."

This is the same ball which appeared in my Mellow Yellow post last month. As time went by, the wind moved it along the surface of the ice and rotated it enough to show off its aqua side.

"The artist in me cries out for design."

"The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep."

A female Mallard kept a watchful eye on me while foraging for her breakfast. You can see the water droplets on her feathers and a bit of grass in her bill.

"Two roads diverged in a wood and I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference."

"The old dog barks without getting up. I can remember when he was a pup."

A couple of weeks back, this adorable 11 week old Husky pup, ran off yelping after some other little bully of a dog (coughBennycough) snarled at him. His owner carried him past the troublesome JRT.

"There never was any heart truly great and generous, that was not also tender and compassionate."

"You can't get too much winter in the winter."

Like I said, we haven't got much snow but that doesn't stop the kidlets from getting what they can out of it.

"Happiness makes up in height for what it lacks in length."

More photos in a few days.